


This New Hope

by with_beauty



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Podfic Welcome, the ultimate ot3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 09:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5579434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/with_beauty/pseuds/with_beauty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe has a special outing planned for the trio.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This New Hope

The base was quiet, almost peaceful, for once. There had been no new intel on the New Order for days, and while there was a small undercurrent of tension at the lack of news, everyone seemed relieved to be having a break.

Rey and Finn sat across from each other in the corner of the nearly deserted mess hall, Rey’s sketchpad lying between them. She was sketching the inner workings of the Resistance’s X-wing ships. Their technology was far more advanced than the downed X-wings she had encountered on Jakku. Finn watched her quietly, his chin in his hands.

Just then, Poe walked through the mess hall door, glancing around for a moment before spotting the two. He made a beeline towards them, a broad smile stretching across his face. As he walked towards the table, Finn caught sight of him and straightened. He nudged Rey and murmured something to her, and she turned around, smiling brightly.

Poe took the final few steps to the table and leaned down, bracing himself on his arms.

“How are my two favorite people?” he said.

Finn grinned up at him and Rey gave a small wave.

“We’re good! Rey was drawing,” Finn explained.

Poe looked over the drawing in question.

“That looks great!” He gripped her shoulder affectionately as she flushed.

Finn grinned wider. “What’s up, buddy? Got any plans for the day off?”

“Yeah I do. They’re plans for all of us, actually.”

Both Finn and Rey looked up at him in interest.

“C’mon. Let me take you somewhere.”

His two friends stood immediately and took his outstretched hands. As he led them out of the mess hall, Rey spoke up.

“Where are we going?”

Poe shot her a sly grin. “If I tell you that, it’ll ruin half the fun.”

Rey shook her head indulgently and let herself be led out of the base compound. They made their way across the landing field to the gently sloping hills around them. Finn leaned forward as they walked and flashed her a smile. As they passed into the forest, Rey marveled anew at her surroundings.

She had been astonished by the greenery on Takodana when they had gone to visit Maz Kanata, thinking she must be dreaming. Of course, she had heard about trees and plants, but she had never imagined that so many could grow in the same place. The experience had been overwhelming. And now she found herself on another forest-populated planet, with huge leafy trees growing all around her. She felt like pinching herself every day.

On Poe’s other side, Finn was likewise lost in thought. He was amazed that he had come so far since his days as a stormtrooper. Not long ago, his every movement had been monitored, controlled. Now he could take a stroll through the amazingly green forests of D’Qar whenever he wanted, with his two best friends at his side. Friends who understood him and accepted him, even cared for him, exactly as he was.

Poe looked between his two companions, both lost in thought, and smiled. He couldn’t wait for them to see his surprise. He’d spent the entire morning setting everything up, making sure it was all perfect. As if picking up on his excitement, Finn turned to him and gave him a sweet smile. Poe couldn’t help himself from leaning over to give him a quick peck. He was gratified when the other man’s dark skin flushed.

After another minute or two of walking, the trees around the trio began to thin. Letting go of Rey and Finn’s hands, Poe turned to them.

“Okay, guys, close your eyes. We’re almost there.”

Finn grinned excitedly as he complied, and Rey covered her eyes with her hand, as if she was afraid she’d open them on accident.

Poe returned to his spot between them and guided their hands to his shoulders.

“Just hold onto me,” he said. Carefully, slowly, he led them to the edge of the clearing where his surprise was set up. In the center of the almost circular clearing was spread a large blanket, patterned with thin, brightly colored stripes. On top of it sat a woven basket covered by a cloth napkin.

The trio shuffled forwards toward the setup, with Poe keeping a sharp eye out for any dips or debris hidden in the grass. Finally, they reached the blanket, and Poe took his friends’ hands off his shoulders, helping them settle themselves onto it.

“Best damn pilot in the galaxy,” Finn murmured. Rey giggled next to him.

Laughing along with them, Poe instructed them to keep their eyes closed. He quickly uncovered the basket and lifted out the two small bunches of flowers that sat on top of the contents. He had gathered them this morning from the Resistance’s garden on the far side of the base. He felt certain that, had Finn or Rey found the garden, they would have talked about it for days, but he hadn’t heard a peep of it from either, so he hoped that this would be a good surprise for them.

Poe knelt in front of his companions and let out a long breath, both from nerves and from excitement. He extended the flowers out before him.

“Okay. Open your eyes.”

Finn and Rey opened their eyes at the same moment, only to stare at the gift that they were being offered.

“Oh my god,” Rey breathed. “Are those ... flowers?” She reached tentatively for the bundle Poe held out to her. As she took it, Finn’s fingers closed around the bunch in Poe’s other hand.

“Yeah, they are.” Poe glanced from face to face. “Do you like them?”

Both ex-scavenger and ex-stormtrooper looked like they had gone into shock, but their emotions arose from completely different sources.

Rey had only ever heard of flowers before leaving Jakku. She marveled at their bright colors, their soft fragile petals. They were unlike anything she could have ever dreamed.

In contrast to Rey, Finn had heard of, and seen, flowers before in his life. His shock was due to the gesture itself. Never before had he been given something for his own sake, simply because the giver thought that it would make him happy.

“Yeah,” Finn croaked, fighting back tears. At his side, Rey was doing the same. “They – they’re beautiful.”

Poe immediately reached for his friends’ hands, squeezing them tightly. He hadn’t imagined that his surprise would cause such an intense reaction from the two. He just hoped the rest of his plans wouldn’t be too overwhelming for them.

Leaving the Finn and Rey to continue to admire the flowers, he returned again to the basket behind them. In it were numerous cloth-wrapped packages of food, which he spread out around him.

Finn twisted to watch him. “What’s all that?”

“Food!” Poe replied enthusiastically.

Rey’s head whipped around. “Food?” Her eyes widened as she took in the number of packages. “There’s so much! How’d you get it all?”

Poe paused, frowning a little in confusion. “I just asked for it from the kitchens.”

Rey’s mouth fell open. “They just _gave_ it to you?”

“Well, yeah. As long as you ask nicely and they have it, you can pretty much get whatever you want. They try to keep a lot of things stocked for everyone’s specific tastes.”

“ _Wow_.”

Poe gestured for her to open one of the packages, and all three began unwrapping the food that he had packed. They uncovered a wide array of picnic foods, from starblossom and honey melon to nerf sausage and Endorian chicken. There was even a carafe of quint-berry juice to go along with it all.

Rey stared for a moment in admiration before gesturing to a parcel of turquoise colored cubes. “What are those?”

“Oh, that’s bantha milk cheese,” Poe replied. “It actually comes from Luke’s homeworld.”

Rey nodded quickly and dived in, grabbing handfuls of the foods closest to her. As she ate, Finn gazed at the spread around him, unsure of where to start. He had never been given anything like this to eat as a stormtrooper. Then, his meals had mostly consisted of flavorless pink cubes of bepp; gihaal, a terrible smelling fishmeal; and various protein substitutes. The meals had been nutritionally sound and cheap to produce, but not very pleasant to eat.

Poe nudged him and offered the package still in his hands. “Try this. It’s ahrisa and haroun bread. I think you’ll like it.”

Finn brought one of the ahrisa balls to his nose and gave it a hesitant sniff. Its smell was spicy and delicious, and he bit into it without any further pause. He was pleased to find that it tasted just as good as it smelled.

As Poe munched on a handful of tendril nuts, he couldn’t help but laugh at his friends’ expressions. Rey’s cheeks were puffed like a Nelvaan squirrel’s from the amount of food she had stuffed into her mouth, and Finn had his eyes closed like he was trying to commit every second of flavor to memory. When he finally opened his eyes, his gaze met Rey’s. Both smiled, though Rey seemed to have some difficulty doing so around the extra bite she had just taken.

“Do you guys want some dessert?” Poe asked. They nodded enthusiastically.

He dug back into the basket and produced two more cloth-wrapped parcels. He had managed to score three pieces of air cake, and even a stack of Wookie-ookies.

As Rey took a slice of cake in one hand and a Wookie-ookie in the other, she moved to lay her head in Finn’s lap. He leaned back slightly so as not to dribble crumbs on her forehead, but was more than happy to accommodate her. When he finished his own slice of cake, he laid his hand on the top of her head, smoothing his fingers over her hair. Poe sat back contentedly, just watching them.

Rey was dreamily running her hands over the blanket in time with Finn’s fingers in her hair, her eyes closed. After a minute, she opened them again and grabbed Finn’s hand to kiss the back of it before she sat up. She looked over at Poe.

“This blanket is lovely,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

“It’s from Yavin 4, my homeworld,” he said wistfully. “My grandmother made it.”

She nodded softly, exchanging a sad look with Finn. Poe’s heart clenched. He couldn’t imagine growing up without a family, as they had. They didn’t even know their own homeworlds. He crawled forward to place a hand on Finn’s shoulder and Rey’s upper arm. They smiled gently at him.

Poe looped his arms around his two companions, drawing them closer. He turned first to Rey and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then to Finn to do the same. Both sighed happily and snuggled in, leaning their heads on his shoulders. Finn reached across Poe’s body to take Rey’s hand, drawing it towards him to rest in Poe’s lap.

Despite the sadnesses that each had faced in the past, at this moment they all felt unconditionally happy. No matter what the future held, they would always have this little family that they had created. It would shelter them through the hard times, and give them something to come home to at the end of the day. It was where they could be their truest selves, and share their deepest secrets.

They sat nestled together for a long time under the slowly darkening sky before packing up to head back to base. As they walked together through the twilit forest, Poe thought that his surprise had gone better than he could have ever hoped.

**Author's Note:**

> The blanket they're sitting on is of a Guatemalan design, so if you aren't clear on what it's supposed to look like there's plenty of images on Google!


End file.
